Four Clans Before
by Pinefur
Summary: PERMANENT HIATUS, SORRY. I'M GOING TO REWRITE IT EVENTUALLY When Leafpool finds the Moonpool, she realizes that generations of cats had been there before, seeing the pawprints worn into the path. But where did those cats all go? This is their story.
1. Allegiances

**Allegiances**

**ThunderClan **

**Leader**

Maplestar

**Deputy**

Sharpclaw**  
**

**Medicine Cat**

Thornyleaf**  
**

**Warriors**

Razorteeth

Silverfur

Mouseear

Hazelwater

Redpelt

**Apprentices**

Moonpaw

Pinepaw

Lightpaw

Eagerpaw

**Queens**

Brackentail

**Elders**

Darktail

**WindClan**

**Leader**

Grassstar

**Deputy**

Airfoot**  
**

**ShadowClan**

**Leader**

Nightstar**  
**

**Deputy **

Shadewhisker**  
**

**RiverClan **

**Leader**

Miststar

**Deputy**

Reedbend**  
**


	2. Dreams of Stars

Moonpaw lapped at the cold water in the pool.

It tasted of the sky, and the stars that were reflected in its depths. Moonpaw felt the cold liquid in her mouth, and she closed her eyes, willing sleep to come, and bring with it, dreams.

The pure white medicine cat apprentice opened her gold colored eyes into slits as she felt the chill of the stone on her paws grow stronger. Immediately she opened her eyes wide, and blinked. Already StarClan had sent a dream to her! Moonpaw sat up, tasting the air. There was no tempting scent of fresh-kill here, just the warm smells of the forest and the lake, and the stars.

Moonpaw looked at her surroundings. She was crouched next to the lake at the edge of ThunderClan territory. Slowly the albino she-cat stood, and the ripples of water splashed at her paws. A movement caught her attention, out across the lake. Moonpaw stared in amazement as the water shimmered and two shining cats walked over the waves to greet her.

"Bluepelt! Mossfur!" Moonpaw gasped.

"Welcome, Moonpaw," meowed Bluepelt. The blue-gray she-cat stepped onto the shore of the lake, next to where Moonpaw was sitting. "Welcome, this half-moon. You are becoming a worthy medicine cat apprentice."

Moonpaw felt both embarrassment and pride burn through her fur. "Thank you, Bluepelt. I just try to serve my clan – and StarClan."

Bluepelt bowed her head. "No cat could ask you to do more."

Moonpaw blinked in gratitude. Then her attention turned to Mossfur. The she-cat's dark pelt was bristling. Bluepelt stiffened, her tail lashing the air.

Mossfur hissed suddenly. "Beware the red ones, Moonpaw! They will destroy your Clan, and you."

"What?" Moonpaw blinked, confused. What was Mossfur meowing about? Red ones?

"Be careful, Moonpaw," mewed Bluepelt, glancing at Mossfur. "You will see what Mossfur means."

"Why can't you tell me?"

Mossfur snorted. "StarClan cannot see everything, young one. Be patient. The future is still dim to us."

Moonpaw bowed her head. "All right." She couldn't help feeling impatient. The she-cat raised her face to the StarClan cats. "What's so horrible about red-?"

Her jaw dropped. The StarClan warriors had vanished; not even their scent was left on the lakeshore. Moonpaw took a step forwards, and then the albino apprentice pricked her ears. Behind her, there was yowling, and the stench of blood wound around her body. Suddenly cats burst out of the trees, racing away from something behind them. A lean brown warrior pushed Moonpaw over, and almost instantaneously warriors were jumping on her in their haste to get away.

Moonpaw struggled to rise to her feet. "Bluepelt! Mossfur!" She couldn't hear anything but the screeching of cats. Moonpaw closed her eyes.

And opened them again. She was back beside the Pool of Stars, or Moonpool, as some cats liked to call it. The other medicine cats were waking as well. Thornyleaf, Moonpaw's mentor and ThunderClans's medicine cat, blinked his green eyes and flicked his tail.

"Come, Moonpaw. We must get back to ThunderClan." The tom sounded a bit urgent. _Did he dream of something that would destroy the Clan as well?_ wondered Moonpaw. She padded after Thornyleaf, up the path that led to the Pool of Stars. Her paws slipped into the pawprints worn into the stone by many generations of cats. The young albino she-cat tasted the air as she felt a breath of wind on her face.

She could just barely detect the scent of blood.


	3. Missing Cat

"Moonpaw, Moonpaw."

Moonpaw sleepily opened her eyes. "Hm? Thornyleaf? What is it?" The medicine cat apprentice dragged herself slowly onto her feet. "Is some cat hurt?"

Thornyleaf shook his head. "No, not hurt, but Darktail is complaining of aching legs. Can you take some herbs to him?"

Moonpaw shook herself. "Mmm… yes," she murmured drowsily. "Right away."

The ThunderClan medicine cat dipped his head. Can you also get some watermint? There's some by the lake, I think."

The albino she-cat nodded, and took the bundle of leaves lying by Thornyleaf's paws and reluctantly padded into the bright sunlight. She blinked her golden eyes as the warmth of sun-high washed over her pelt. Moonpaw yawned, almost dropping Darktail's herbs. She so was tired from the last night's trip to the Pool of Stars, and now she had to go fetch watermint! Moonpaw hoped that she could get some quickly, and then come back to camp to sleep.

Darktail flicked his ears in gratitude when Moonpaw laid the herbs in front of him. "Thanks," the elder meowed. Moonpaw looked around the almost empty den. Darktail was the only ThunderClan elder now. There were so few cats in ThunderClan this season, for some reason. Moonpaw nodded to Darktail and backed out of the elders' den. She longed to curl up and fall asleep in her moss bed by Thornyleaf's den, but she had to find watermint first.

As the medicine cat apprentice was about to enter the gorse tunnel that protected the ThunderClan camp she heard a familiar mew. It was Redpelt, padding over to her.

"Have you seen Hazelwater?" the ginger-furred tom asked. "I can't find her."

Moonpaw shook her head. "Most likely hunting."

Redpelt cocked his head. "Yes, but shouldn't she have gone on a hunting patrol? Sharpclaw said he didn't assign her a patrol."

"That's strange."

Redpelt twitched his tail. "Yes." He paused. "You're going for herbs? Try to find Hazelwater as well, will you?"

Moonpaw sighed. "If I don't fall asleep first."

The rusty colored warrior blinked, amused, and padded away. Moonpaw watched him go. Suddenly a thought blinked in her mind. Was _Redpelt_ the red one that Mossfur had warned her about? The she-cat shook her head to clear it. It couldn't be Redpelt.

Could it?

* * *

Moonpaw snapped one last mouthful of watermint and laid it on the ground. _There! _she thought. _That must be enough_. The medicine cat apprentice gathered all of the thin stalks in her mouth to take back to Thornyleaf. As she walked up the path away from the lake and back to ThunderClan camp, Moonpaw stumbled. The heat was making her even more lethargic then she already was.

Moonpaw spotted a clump of ferns a few tail-lengths away. The she-cat staggered to them and curled up in their shade. _I'll only rest for a few minutes_, she thought, setting the watermint down. She breathed in deeply, and just before the apprentice fell asleep she detected a strong stench. Then darkness enveloped her mind.

"Moonpaw! Wake up!"

After what seemed like just a heartbeat of black a voice yowled in Moonpaw's ear. The she-cat jumped up, startled. "Thornyleaf, what-?"

No cat was there.

Moonpaw twitched her tail nervously, tasting the wind. There was no smell of her mentor, or of any other cat. But there was another scent, sick and strong.

_Fox!_

Moonpaw's fur bristled, and a shiver ran down her spine as she recognized another smell. Hazelwater had been here! The medicine cat apprentice froze as a realization came to her. Horrified, she padded deeper into the clump of ferns. The stench grew stronger. Then the she-cat pushed through the plants and found herself beside a tree in a small clearing where the smells of the forest were overlaid with thick fox-scent and the scent of blood.

A cat's body was in the center of the clearing.


	4. Hazelwater

**Yah! I got reviews! Hooray!!!!!!! Sorry I haven't updated this in a while but I was working on the Power of Stars series and songfics. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out sooner.  
**

Moonpaw's paws collapsed from beneath her. "What-?" She couldn't smell what which cat it was because of the overwhelming stench of fox, and it was too mangled to see whom it was. This cat's light brown fur was matted with blood, and its face was gone except for two clouded amber eyes.

The apprentice felt light headed, and a wave of nausea swept over her. She was sure that StarClan had woken her up so she would find this cat.

Then a fresh breeze picked up the scent of the dead cat and swept it over to Moonpaw. The she-cat tried to sort the cat's smell from the metallic tang of blood. Suddenly realization hit her like a Twoleg monster.

"Hazelwater!"

Moonpaw's vision swam. Hazelwater! The queen who had gone missing! The albino apprentice swayed. Foxes had done this! But how in StarClan's name had they gotten up the courage to attack a fierce warrior?

The she-cat breathed in, trying to clear her scent-glands, but a gust of air drove the smell deeper into her nose. She coughed and fell over, writhing on the ground. Just then Thornyleaf, Maplestar and Redpelt bolted into the clearing, brought by her cry.

"Foxes… killed." Moonpaw choked on the foul scent. Thornyleaf raced up to her. "Be still, Moonpaw," he urged.

Moonpaw coughed, and Thornyleaf's face blurred out of her vision. She couldn't feel her paws now, and she couldn't move as the world around her went black.

* * *

"Wha- where am I?"

Moonpaw raised her head sleepily. She was in a dark den that smelled strongly of herbs. The apprentice savored the sweet scent, breathing it in to clear herself of a strange stench. _What_ is_ that smell?_ She wondered. Then the she-cat remembered. She sat bolt upright.

"Hazelwater!" Moonpaw yowled.

A shadow fell across her face. Moonpaw jumped back as another cat entered, then she scented him as Thornyleaf. She was in the medicine cat's den.

"Thornyleaf! Hazelwater, she, she… the foxes…" Moonpaw gulped in air.

"We know," meowed Thornyleaf calmly. "Maplestar has just called a Clan meeting to discuss the foxes. The cats were wondering why they would attack a warrior."

"I thought the same thing," admitted Moonpaw. "Normally foxes wouldn't kill a strong cat." She blinked drowsily. "Can I go to the meeting?"

Thornyleaf shook his head. "No. You need to rest. You got sick." He gave his apprentice's ear a lick. "I'll tell you what happens, don't worry."

"Okay." Moonpaw lay her head back down on her paws gratefully. Thornyleaf padded out silently, heading back to the Clan meeting. After a few minutes, Moonpaw felt sleep wash over her again.

* * *

Immediately she was at the edge of the lake, and it was nighttime. Her golden eyes took in every sight. The stars shone even brighter than usual, and then Bluepelt's voice mewed in Moonpaw's ear. The StarClan she-cat sounded more weary than when Moonpaw had met her at the Moonpool.

"Careful, young one. Danger comes."

Moonpaw tried to turn her head to see the starry warrior, but couldn't. "You- you mean the foxes?"

Bluepelt didn't reply, but Moonpaw sensed her kinking her tail and beckoning some cat out of the sky. The medicine cat apprentice half expected it to be Mossfur again, but this time a light brown queen appeared.

Moonpaw gasped. "H-hazelwater!" she stammered.

The she-cat dipped her head. Moonlight fell on her face, and Moonpaw hissed in queasiness. Hazelwater's face was gone, the way the foxes had ripped it off, except for the two amber eyes. "Hazelwater, I thought that all cats were returned to normal when they joined the ranks of StarClan. How come you-?" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

Bluepelt answered for the StarClan warrior. "Moonpaw, you must leave this place. There is danger here, and the Clans are in trouble. The foxes are rebelling against the ways of the forest. You must find a new home, and then Hazelwater can heal."

"But why?"

"Because her death is the start of many. You have to avenge her, in a way. You have to _leave_."

Suddenly the queen was gone, and Moonpaw could move again. She looked into Hazelwater's eyes. They were the deepest pits of sadness that Moonpaw had ever seen.

"Don't worry, Hazelwater," meowed Moonpaw. She kneaded the ground with her fore paws. The lake started to fade as the albino cat returned to the waking world. "Don't worry," she repeated as the queen left her sight. "I don't know what in Great StarClan I'm supposed to do, but I'll help you. Just wait a little longer."


	5. Red Ones

Moonpaw's eyelids fluttered as bright sunlight hit her face. She stood up and stretched each leg in turn slowly. The warm scents of Thornyleaf's den flooded into her nose, and she felt calm.

A tom entered the den with a she-cat behind him. Moonpaw dipped her head in greeting. Thornyleaf and Maplestar!

"Hello, Moonpaw," meowed Maplestar wearily. "You found Hazelwater, correct?"

"Yes," replied Moonpaw. "Um… what are you going to do about the foxes?"

"Hopefully Sharpclaw can send a patrol to scare them off," mewed the ThunderClan leader. "But I'm not sure it will work." She sighed. "Why do the foxes have to attack now, when there are so few warriors? At least we have strong fighters like Silverfur and Redpelt."

Moonpaw swallowed uncomfortably. _But Redpelt is who Bluepelt and Mossfur warned me about! _ she thought. _Did they mean that he would betray Maplestar?_

"What if the foxes don't go away?" asked a worried voice. Moonpaw turned to see Lightpaw. The apprentice looked at her leader anxiously.

"Lightpaw!" exclaimed Thornyleaf. "What do you need?"

The young she-cat blinked. "My mentor Razorteeth needs some marigold for a cut he got."

Thornyleaf nodded. "Moonpaw, will you get Lightpaw some marigold?"

Moonpaw padded to where the marigold lay in a crack in the rock wall. She padded out of the medicine cat's den with Lightpaw and over to the warrior's den. Razorteeth was inside, licking a scratch on his shoulder.

"Great StarClan, how did that happen?" Moonpaw asked.

Razorteeth hissed. "I don't know. Maybe I cut myself while chasing prey but didn't notice."

Moonpaw flicked her tail and started chewing the marigold. She laid the pulp on the gash. Razorteeth stiffened as the juice dripped into the wound.

"You'll be fine," meowed Moonpaw. She turned to leave the den with Lightpaw behind her.

As the medicine cat apprentice padded into the clearing, she saw Redpelt heading for the warrior's den. Suspicion clouding her mind, Moonpaw veered away sharply stalking off towards the fresh-kill pile. Lightpaw had to bound forward ungracefully to keep up.

"What did he do to ruffle your fur?" she asked the albino she-cat.

Moonpaw sighed. "Nothing."

"Then why did you avoid him like that?"

"It's- it's hard to explain," mewed Moonpaw.

Lightpaw looked eagerly at the medicine cat apprentice. "Tell me!"

"Umm…" Moonpaw glanced around hesitantly.

"Pleeeeeeeease?"

Moonpaw lowered her voice. "Some StarClan warriors told me that red ones would destroy the Clan. I think they mean Redpelt."

Lightpaw's eyes widened. "Really?"

Moonpaw nodded.

"Wow!" Lightpaw brightened, then raced off to the apprentice's den.

"Don't tell anyone," hissed Moonpaw as the apprentice bounded away. The she-cat twitched her ears to show she had heard.

"What is it?"

Moonpaw turned. Thornyleaf was padding up with Maplestar at his heels.

"Oh, nothing," the she-cat lied.

Maplestar seemed worried. "The hunting patrol hasn't come back yet. I'm worried that a group of foxes might have gotten them."

Just then there was a yowl. Silverfur was racing into the camp. A deep gash was on her flank, and she was breathing heavily. Right before the silvery she-cat collapsed onto the ground she howled a single word.

"Foxes!"

**I know that was a horrible way to end and it was really short, but I had to stop somewhere and I don't want to keep going tonight. By the way, you can review this but don't PM me because for some random reason my e-mail isn't working.**


	6. Foxes

**Yes, I know that I have not updated this for over three months, I am really **_**really**_** sorry about that. Now I am going to try to post a chapter at least once or twice a week, so I can get to the point of this story. But I didn't mean to leave this story un-updated for so long! I just forgot about it. **

"Foxes!" hissed Maplestar, leaping forward. Thornyleaf jumped to Silverfur's side; the queen's gash was bleeding heavily and she lay still in the dust. Moonpaw watched her mentor as he quickly gathered herbs and pressed cobwebs onto the wound.

He caught the apprentice's eye. "Don't just stand there! _Do_ something! Get more poppy seeds!" He was made irritable by worry for the unconscious she-cat lying at his paws.

Moonpaw bolted into the medicine cat den cut into the stone surrounding the camp. She grabbed a leaf full of poppy seeds and ran back to Thornyleaf.

"Thanks," he grunted, and leaned back over Silverfur.

Meanwhile, Maplestar had gathered as many cats as she could. "You too, Moonpaw!" she meowed. "You can fight as well as any of us!" Moonpaw glanced at her mentor, who nodded, and she bounded over to her Clanmates.

"Now listen!" Maplestar yowled. "Foxes have attacked the hunting patrol! We don't know how many there are, and Silverfur can't tell us right now." The group of cats looked briefly to the young she-cat who was ominously motionless. "We have to go help the patrol!"

Her words were met with howls of agreement, and in a heartbeat the mass of sleek bodies had run through the thorn tunnel and out of the ThunderClan camp. Moonpaw darted father into their territory with them, then stopped while the rest of the patrol burst ahead as a breeze drew the smell into her face.

"Wait! I found the scent!"

She wasn't sure that they heard her, and she hesitated as they disappeared from her view. But then a slim red shape thrust its way between some trees.

"What? What did you say?"

Moonpaw gaped at the cat. It was Redpelt. She was so sure that he was going to become evil, but she couldn't let any cat know. She hadn't even told Thornyleaf, much less Maplestar!

"Moonpaw, are you okay?"

Moonpaw shook herself and forced her eyes to watch the ginger warrior. "Y-yes. I found the scent trail."

Redpelt hit himself on the head with his tail. "The patrol must have gone right past it! Don't worry, they'll realize soon enough. Let's go find the patrol. Maplestar will get there quickly, anyhow."

The medicine cat apprentice almost slashed at his muzzle. Go alone with Redpelt? The cat in the prophecy? No way! But she couldn't say that, and painfully she nodded. "Yes. Of course," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Redpelt turned and scented the air. "Whoa, you're right! The scent _is_ here! Come on!" He jumped away into the undergrowth.

Moonpaw stared after him, and forced her paws to move. She continued to go along the tom's trail until she nearly crashed into his back as he stood frozen under some ferns.

"Redpelt! You-!"

"Shh! Look!" He tilted his muzzle towards the space in front of them.

Moonpaw ripped her glare away from him and stared ahead, then blinked in shock. They had found the rest of the patrol.

Three foxes were circling around a tree, and in the lowest branch Eagerpaw and Mouseear clutched the rough bark. The limb they were on creaked and sagged dangerously down the tree's side. Moonpaw felt a jolt of fear as she realized that the branch was about to snap and the cats would fall to the snarling foxes.


End file.
